ISF 376 **'*HH,i 

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History of Sheep Husbandry in 
Massachusetts. 



LECTTJEE 

BT 

Hon. JAMES S. GRINNPXL 

OK OREENFIELD. 



Deuvered at the Public Winter Meeting of the MASa\cnusETTS 

State Boarp op AowcuLTURfe, at Boston, 

Dkcembeu 2, 1891. 



With Accompanting Discussion. 



BOSTON : 

WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 

18 Post Office Square 

1892. 



SF 376 
.G8 
Copy 1 



'istory of Sheep Hushaiidi^y 
Massaclntsetts. 



in 



LECTUEE 



BY 



J 



Hon. JAMES Sf GRINNELL 

u 
OK GREENFIELD. 



deliveiied at the public winter meeting of the massachusetts 

State Board of Agriculture, at Boston, 

December 2, 1891. 



With Accompanying Discussion. 



BOSTON : 

WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 

18 Post Office Square. 

1892. 






BY rR«wSFFR 

jUN 3 '910 



1 



HISTORY OF SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



BY HON. JAMES S. GRINNELL OF GREENFIELD. 



The sii)>ject of slwcp husbandry, always one of the greatest 
importance to the whole farming community, seems again to 
be exciting general interest and attention in our State, and, 
in the opinion of the Board of Agriculture, would be aided 
and advanced by a somewhat extended consideration in a 
paper which I was directed to prepare and bring l)efore this 
meeting, and by the full discussion which is to follow. 

In all ages the sheep has been a prominent representative 
of rural husbandry, pr()tital)le and eminently respectaljle, 
from the time that Abel, the tirst. keeper of shee}), made to 
the Lord an acceptable otiering of the firstlings of his 
flock — early lambs ; and many hundreds of years later that 
great farmer and Hock-master, Job, reckoned among his 
stock fV)urteen thousand sheep. 

Originally neither the tlesh of the sheep nor of any other 
animal was used as an article of food. According to Bibli- 
cal history, only a vegetable diet was permitted, — the fruit 
of every tree in the garden of Eden (with one exception) 
"and every herl) of the field;" so that for about sixteen 
hundred years, till after the deluge, no sheep were killed to 
be eaten. It was only after Noah had stei)ped forth from 
the ark and offered his sacrifice that the Divine i)ermission 
was given, " Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat 
for you ; even as the green herb have I given you all things." 
From this time on the flesh of the sheep was not only an 
acceptable offering to the Almighty, but as an article of 
food is frequently mentioned in Holy Writ, from the dress- 
ing of a single lamb in very early days down to the mag- 
nificence of Solomon, who, besides his established character 
for wisdom generally, manifested an exceeding good taste 



and con^sideration for his hou.sehold l)y having a liundrt'd 
sheep slaughtered for their daily maintenance and enjoyment. 

Sheep probably found their way into Europe by the 
Hellespont with the early civilization of its inhabitants, and 
after a long interval into Italy ; they were early cultivated 
in Spain, having prol)ably been introduced therefrom Africa 
long l)efore the founding of Ivome. The more northern part 
of Euro})e was a great forest, unfaxorable to the growing 
of slice}), and their numbers seem always to have been small. 
The Celtic tri])es [)aid more regard to the ox than to the 
sheep, and the flocks of the early inha])itants of Europe 
never equalled those of the Syrian and other Asiatic shep- 
herds. 

As the sheep of this country (except the Merinos) mostly 
came from England, it would be curious and interesting to 
trace their introduction to that country. Unfortunately this 
is shrouded in the darkness which envelops the. British 
Islands })rior to their invasion and conquest by the Komans. 
During that dynasty, however, wool was spun and woven 
and woollen fabrics were made in Britain ; and in course of 
time the woollens of Winchester, which were said to rival 
the spider's wel) in flneness, attained the highest reputation, 
and maintained it for centuries ; but there is no record of 
the sheep from whose fleece these were s])un and woven. 
It is believed that the Hibernians had from the Phcenicians 
acquired the art of s})inning and weaving long l)efore the 
invasion of the liomans upon England, and while the people 
of the larger island were still clad in the skins of wild ani- 
mals, and of oxen and sheep, after their untraceable intro- 
duction. From that time to the improvement of sheep and 
the settlement of this country is a long interval. Either 
the sheep were not very early introduced here, or the chron- 
iclers of that day did not see flt to make any special mention 
of them ; horses, cattle, and, strangely, goats, are much 
earlier and oftener noticed than sheep. 

In 1(32U permission was given to shi}) from Southampton 
one hundred and forty cattle, horses, sheep and goats ; 
how many were landed, if any, does not appear. July, 
l()ol, from Barnstable in Devonshire were shipped eight 
heifers, a calf and five sheep. June 15, l()o3, thirty-four 



Dutch slice}) were landed, forty haviiiii' been lost at sea. 
In the same year these or others are recorded as having 
been carried onto an island in Boston harlior as a place of 
protection against wolves. In 1(385 eighty-eiglit Dutch 
ewes were brought in, valued at fifty shillings each, July, 
16o3, an order was made that no sheep should be exported. 
May 14, 1618, the following order was made by the General 
Court: "that forasmuch as the keeping of sheep tends to 
the good and benefit of the country, if they were carefully 
lireserved, henceforth it shall l)e lawful for any man to keep 
sheep on any common, accounting five sheep to one great 
beast. And if any dog shall kill any sheep, the o^viier shall 
either hang his dog forthwith, or pay double damages for 
the shee}). And if any dog has been known to course or 
bite any sheep before, not being set on, and his owner had 
notice thereof, then he shall both hang his dog and pay for 
the sheep." 

In l()o4 an order Avas passed by the court : "that whereas, 
the country was in great straits in respect of (Nothing, and 
the most likeliest way tending to sup})ly in that res})cct is 
the raising and keeping of sheep within our jurisdiction, it 
is therefore ordered and enacted by this court, that after tlie 
publication hereof no person or persons whatsoever shall 
trans})ort any ewes or ewe lambs out of this jurisdiction to 
any foreign place or })ort, upon the penalty of the forfeiture 
of live pounds for every ewe or ewe lamb so transported." 

In 1652 Charlestown had as many as four hundred sheep ; 
and in 1658 John Josselyn wrote, in the account of his two 
voyages to the Colonies, of there l)cing eight hundred at 
Black Point in this State, and again mentions their having 
great store of sheep in the colony. 

Twenty years later, Sir Edward l\andolph, commissioner 
of the Crown, wrote in his official correspondence that 
"New England abounded in sheep." By successive impor- 
tations, care in breeding and preserving, forbidding exporta- 
tions and the killing of shee}) as much as possible, they 
multiplied greatly, they became abundant on the commons, 
and were watched and guarded by a shepherd. Herding, now 
so successfully practised by the most eminent sheep grower in 
the State, was first used in this country in RoAvley, where 



6 

perniis.sion wut? grunted to erect sheep gates, or lengths of 
movable fence to l)e set up at night as protection against 
wolves and dogs. 

(JhjtJiiny. 

Next to food and shelter, the great exigency of the early 
settlers was of course clothing sufficient not only to cover 
their nakedness, but to keep them warm in this cold climate. 
In this respect, as in some others, they Avere content to 
receive from the customs of their barl)arous neighbors sug- 
gestions which were not without use to them in their pecul- 
iar circumstances. The original clothing of the Indians was 
from the furs and skins of \\ ild animals. ]Much skill was 
evinced in the dressing of l)utfalo, deer, elk and other skins 
for that puri)ose ; for (wternal wear they were prepared with 
the hair or wool on, and for under garments the smaller 
skins Avere made into a kind of " chamois " leather l»y remov- 
ing the hair and dressing them with the l^rains of the animal, 
which rendered them very soft and pliable. A scjuaw would 
thus prepare eight or ten skins in a day. INIorton says the 
Indians "made their skins into very good leather, making 
them ' plume ' and soft ; the moose skins they commonly 
dress l)are and make them wondrous white ; the moccasins 
and leggings were usually made from the moose skins." 
The colonists made much use of these materials, which com- 
ported well with their rugged mode of life and the severity of 
the climate. Indeed, they were not unaccustomed to the use 
of similar materials in their native country ; for in England, 
even in that day, leather dressed as l)uti' and in other styles, 
and worn as doublets, breeches or vests, formed no incon- 
siderable part of the clothing of some classes, and for some 
})ur})Oses was worn by the nobility. These sober and frugal 
materials continued in use till after the era of independence, 
and garments wholly or in part of buckskin or other leather 
could be found in the wardrol)es of even the wealthy men of 
that day. Deerskins dressed were then worth from three 
shillings and sixpence to seven shillings each. 

In 1747, Joseph C'alef, a leather dresser of Charlestown, 
was robbed by burglars, who took a variety of sheepskins 
dressed for ch)thing, some cloth colorcnl for breeches very 



miicli upon the red, others were cloth coh)red thin skins tor 
gloves. In the "Boston Evening Post," February, 1748, 
are advertised "two fulling mills for the fulling of leather." 
As ftist as the settlers eould produce the materials and 
provide the men and means, they had spun and woven for 
clothing flax of their own growing, the cultivation of which 
they had commenced early ; cotton from Barbadoes, and 
wool imported from Malaga and some other ports. All these 
textile goods for more than a hundred years were spun and 
Avoven and dyed in the homestead ; every house had a spin- 
ning-w4ieel, and every other house a loom. The price of 
spinning worsted or linen we are told was usually two shillings 
per pound; for knitting coarse yarn stockings, half a crown 
a pair ; for w^eaving linen half a yard wide, ten to twelve 
pence per yard. The cost of manufacturing eighteen pounds 
of wool into twenty yards of cloth w^as $21.24, or $1.06 per 
yard three-quarters wide. In the earlier days very little 
cloth was on sale, it was largely consumed in the family or 
used in barter wnth the neighl)ors for other necessities ; and 
almost the only attainable way of getting at a price is to read 
some dead man's inventory. In 1671 worsted was worth 
sixty-six pence per pound, and woollen thirty-twT) pence. 
Much linsey-w^oolsey was made for men's wear, of linen 
warp and w^ool filling, valued at eighteen cents per yard. 
Homespun garments or cloth were seldom inventoried ; a 
piece of homespun is valued at three and sixpence in 1681, 
justifying a statement of a letter writer of that day, that in 
167") "there is no cloth made Avorth four shillings and no 
linen over two shillings and sixpence per 3^ard ; " perhaps 
not, but it covered a race unsurpassed for bravery and 
fortitude. I might perhaps truthfully say that they were 
m^n of great understanding, for among the outfits provided 
for the colony in 1629, "a great store of shoes is ordered of 
neats leather of sizes from ten to thirteen." 

Domestic manufactures began early, especially spinning 
and weaving ; for in 1639 home-made cloth is found in 
Peter Branch's inventory, and appears in increasing quanti- 
ties, though probably insufficient to keep pace with the 
increasing population, for in 1640 a bounty was oftered for 
home-made cloth. In 1656, finding the supply still short. 



8 

the selectmen were ordered to assess on each family the 
spinning and weaving of a certain amonnt of cloth. This 
cloth was woven on hand looms, as was all the cloth of 
everv kind made in England as Avell as here ; for it mnst be 
remembered that the power loom was not in existence, — it 
was invented by liev. Edward Cartwright in 178<S, and per- 
fected by him in 1790. 

The first fulling mill for dressing this home-made cloth 
was built at Rowley in 1(543 by a company of weavers, 
skilled Avorkmen from Yorkshire, under the spiritual and 
business charge of Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, where the first 
woolen cloth was dressed in New England. Another fulling 
mill was erected in Salem about the same time, and soon 
after they became common. The price of this home-made 
cloth was six or eight shillings per yard, imported cloth fifteen 
to eighteen shillings. 

In 1657 the value of a sheep was one pound, an ox five 
pounds, horse ten pounds, cow three pounds, avooI eight 
pence, negro boy twenty ])ounds. A story which I came 
across in preparing this pa})er, though not entirely pertinent, 
will not be dis})leasing to you, as illustrating stmie of the 
trials of this early colonial life. In the latter half of the 
last century lived a small family on a stony farm in Con- 
necticut. The stock consisted of a dozen sheep and a cow, 
who, liesides her yield of milk, added her services on the 
plough ; corn bread, milk and bean porridge w^ere the staples 
of their diet. The father being incapacitated by long illness, 
the mother did her work in the house and helped the boys 
in the fields. Once in mid-winter one of the boys needed a 
new suit, and there was neither money nor wool in the 
house. The mother sheared the half-grown fieece from a 
slice}), and in a week it was made into clothes for the T>oy. 
The shorn sheep, so generous in such need, was protected 
from the cold by a wrapping made of braided straw. They 
lived four miles from the meeting-house, to which the mother 
and her l)03^s walked every Sunday. Those boys became the 
Rev. Sanmel Nott, a famous })reacher, and Rev. Dr. Eliphalet 
Nott, the President of Union (college. 

Our ancestors emigrated from difterent places in the 
United Kingdom, and some from the various countries of 



9 

Europe ; they brouii'ht with them domestic animals and then 
implements of husl)andry to sul)due and cultivate the wilder- 
ness. Each, as would be natural to suppose, made choice 
of the favorite breed of his own immediate district to trans- 
port to the new world, and the admixture of these ])reeds 
formed the monarel family known as native shec}) ; amid the 
perils of war and the incursions of wild beasts of prey these 
were preserved with attentive care. The descendants of 
these sheep, known in our day as "native" in distinction from 
the breeds of recent known importation, were of two types, — 
one with white faces and the other with dark or spotted 
faces and legs. These last were known in the Connecticut 
valley and through the western part of the State as 
"English runts " or "Irish smuts," and were undoubtedly 
taken from the counties lying on the south coast of England, 
Devon, Hampshire and Sussex, and were the same stock of 
sheep from the Downs of Sussex and Hampshire, that in 
later years, under the care and skill of John Ellman, Jonas 
Webb and others, became the matchless " South Downs." 

A very convincing proof of this occurred in my own 
experience. Some thirty years ago or more, when JNlr. Fay 
imported the Oxford Downs, I had from him a large superior 
ram which I coupled with fifty of the Irish smut ewes picked 
up for me by a friendly drover in the western part of 
Franklin County and southern Vermont. The product was 
marvellous ; I had succeeded in obtaining what horse men 
would call a perfect " nick." The type of the lambs, several 
of which were twins, was entirely changed from that of the 
ewes, and seemed to assume the character of the improved 
South Down in the Oxford Down ram ; shortened the neck, 
colored the faces uniformly brown, widened the breast, 
shortened the legs, put on more wool, sprung out the ribs, 
deepened and broadened the hind quarters, and gave them a 
weight of seventy-five pounds in ninety days. So I believe 
the old South Down blood was in our " native" sheep, and 
only needed developing. 

The larger white-faced, long-legged, bare-legged, light- 
fleeced sheep of the country were originally brought in 
considerable numliers from the Texel and other parts of 
Holland. These common sheep gave a wool only suited 



10 

for coarser fabrics, yielding in tlie hands of good farmers 
a fleece of not over three and one-half or fonr pounds. 
They were slow in arriving at maturity, ct)mpared with 
the present improved English breeds, and yielded when 
full grown only from twelve to fourteen pounds per quarter 
of a middling quality of mutton which, however, was in l:>ut 
slight demand ; they were usually long-legged, light in the 
fore quarter, and narrow on the back and hind quarter. 
They Avere hardy, easy keepers and good breeders, often 
rearing, almost entirely destitute of care and shelter, one 
hundred per cent of lambs, and in small flocks with more 
care a still larger proportion ; these were dropped in March 
and April. Kestless in their disposition, their hnpatience of 
restraint almost equalled that of the untamed sheep of the 
Rocky Mountains ; and in many parts of the country it was 
common to see flocks of from twenty to fifty roaming with 
little regard to enclosures over the possessions of the owner 
and his neighl)ors, leaving a portion of their wool on ever}^ 
thorn and l)ush. 

1 do not i)urpose to give a history of the different breeds 
of sheep cultivated in England, but l>riefly to notice those 
that have received the preference of our own farmers. 

South Doivns. 

Seventy-five years ago there were in the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain twenty diflerent so-called l)reeds of sheep, 
each peculiar to the county or circumscribed district in which 
they were bred, and many of them })robal)ly not breeds in 
the strict sense of that term, as capalile of reproducing their 
own type under all circumstances. Many of these have lieen 
absorbed, and are disappearing by cross-breeding with the 
more profitable breeds ; of these, the one having undoubtedly 
the most influence has been the South Down, which has 
stamped its characteristics on the popular families of the 
Oxford, the Hampshire and the Shropshire Downs, now, 
with the exception of some Merinos, almost exclusively bred 
in this State. 

The chalk hills called downs, running through the county 
of Sussex and into Hampshire on the south coast of England, 
are the home of the South Downs, now so famous all over 



11 . 

the world, not only for themselves, but as fixing their char- 
acteristics on every breed upon which they have lieen 
crossed ; and this they owe to the prepotency of their l)lood, 
conducted down unmixed for nearly a thousand years. 

But the South Downs were not always what they are now ; 
a little more than a hundred years ago an enterprising sheep 
owner, Mr. John Ellman, commenced the improvement of 
the South Downs by selecting judiciously and breeding most 
carefully. This was afterward continued with equal skill hy 
Mr. Jonas Webb, who with others has brought these beauti- 
ful animals to their present perfect condition ; their pleasant 
brown faces, their broad, straight backs, their deep l)riskets 
and splendid legs of mutton are everywhere known. For 
this part of the country they and their congeners, the Shrops, 
the Hampshire and the Oxford, are the most valuable and 
popular sheep we have. 

Hampshire Doions. 
From the South Downs, bred on the old white-faced horned 
sheep of Hampshire and Wiltshire, came the grand Hampshire 
Down ; liut the strong blood of the South Down has done 
away with the horns, and given them its own dark face. 
They are large, heavy sheep, producing splendid hardy 
lambs, with a good fleece and an admirable leg of mutton ; 
and they, as well as all the Downs, impart their charac- 
teristics wherever used. 

Shropshires. 
The Shropshires were produced by breeding the South 
Downs on the small, dark-faced horned sheep of Shropshire 
on the border of Wales ; the size was improved l)y a cross or 
two of Leicester, and reverting to the South Downs, who 
have taken ofl" the horns, and made them one of the most 
popular breeds in England and in this State, bearing all the 
excellent characteristics of the Downs. 

Oxford Downs. 
The Oxford Downs were large and white-faced ; but under 
the influence of the South Downs and the Hampshire Downs, 
and with an occasional dip into the Cotswolds to add to and 



12 

keep up the size (wliich has been done with all these breeds 
improved by the influence of South Down l)lood), they have 
become grand sheep with a good fleece, heavier than the 
Cotswold and somewhat flner ; they are very likely to drop 
twins, and are very capable of raising them. All of these 
Down sheep are worthy of our attention and care. 

Leicesters. 
The original Leicesters were large, coarse, inferior ani- 
mals, till Robert Bakewell, something over a century ago, 
commenced their improvement ; and by care, selection and 
breeding steadily for one purpose, he made them the best 
mutton sheep in the world at that time, not caring whether 
they had any wool or not. He bred them so close and so 
fine as greatly to impair their constitution. They are not 
suited to our climate and general treatment as pure-bred 
animals, ]>ut our native sheep were years ago improved by a 
cross of Leicester for size. 

Cof.nvolds. 
The Cotswolds came from the county of Gloucester, early 
noted for wool production ; its sheep were so highly prized 
that four hundred years ago a numl)er were exported to 
Spain by royal permission. They are remarkable for size 
and symmetry, and are of an imposing presence. The head 
is large, without horns, carried high and well wooled, with 
a large forelock hanging over the face ; the face and legs are 
white, occasionally slightly mottled with gray or dark 
brown ; the wool is long, wavy and lustrous, sometimes 
measuring eight to ten inches, and commands a high price ; 
the quality of the flesh, — though not equal to the Downs, — 
their great size and good shape make them desirable espe- 
cially to cross on other breeds when increased size is desired, 
and they have been used for that purpose in this State. 

Dor sets. 
Another l)reed which is attracting considerable attention in 
this country at the present time, and has long been popular 
in England, is the Dorset. From time immemorial these 
sheep have been naturalized in the county of Dorset, and 
formerly extended over a large tract of country. 



These sheep possess small horns common to l)oth male 
and female ; they have white faces, and legs which are some- 
what long but tine, sho"v\ing a very good breast and a fine 
leg of mutton with loins broad and deep; wethers will fatten 
to twenty pounds to the quarter. They are a hardy race of 
sheep, docile, and capable of subsisting on scanty pastures; 
their mutton is good, and they shear six or seven pounds of 
close wool, finer than the Downs. 

The property of the Dorsets which remarkalily distin- 
guishes them is the fecundity of the females, and their readi- 
ness to receive the ram at any season. This, and their 
capacity for yielding an abundant supply of milk, renders 
them particularly desirable for raising early lambs. In 
England they have been largely and profital)ly used for rais- 
ing lambs for winter use even as early as Christmas, and 
called " house lambs," for which in London there is a gTcat 
demand. The lambs are hardy, thrifty, mature early, and 
will dress twenty-eight to thirty pounds at sixty or 
seventy days old. Probably a cross of a South Down 
ram on Dorset ewes would give more size and early maturity 
with the su})erior nursing quality of the dam. They tend 
strongly to twins, sometimes having triplets, and their full 
ilow of milk suffices to raise the lambs. Some sheep farmers 
think one lamb for a ewe is better than two ; but if the ewe is a 
good milker, and well fed, twins are profitable. Mr. Youatt 
says, "If a farmer has feed enough and good enough, twins 
are highly desirable." An old English couplet, written 
before the first sheep was landed in Plymouth colony, says : — 

" Ewes yearly by twinning rich masters do make ; 
The lambs of such twinners for bx'eeders go take." 

Merinos. 
The breed of sheep, however, which in its production of 
fine wool has been the most important in the history of the 
Avorld, is the Spanish Merino. Long" before the Clu'istian 
era the finest garments worn by the nobility and wealthy 
citizens of imperial Rome were woven from the fine wools of 
Truditania, Andalusia and Estramadura in Spain. Subse- 
quently the original Spanish sheep were raised and improved 
by the Moors, who brought with them into Spain fine sheep 



u 

from Xorth Africa, which they had carefully cultivated, and 
from whose fleeces were woven fabrics of superlative quality. 
The tine sheep of Spain a hundred years ago numbered 
over twenty millions, and were long preserved as a monop- 
oly with jealous care. Sweden has the honor of being the 
tirst country which secured a flock of these coveted animals. 
France, though adjoining S^^ain, obtained none till near the 
close of the last century. In 17G5 the Elector of Saxony 
succeeded in securing a flock, which, crossed on the native 
tine sheep of his kingdom, and carefully bred, made the 
Saxonies so famous for the fineness of their wool here sixty 
years ago. The skill and ability with which the Spanish 
]\Ierinos were bred and cultivated in this part of the country 
were convincingly shown at an international exhibition in 
ISGI, at Hamburg, Germany, when American Merinos, 
l)red by George Campl)ell of Vermont, and exhibited under 
the direction of Col. Daniel Xeedham, formerly of our Board, 
captured the prizes and defied competition. 

Saxonies. 

The Saxonies were first imported by Samuel Henshaw of 
Boston, and much was anticipated from the introduction of 
these sheep producing such superlatively fine wool. When 
they were introduced, in 1823 or 1824, they were much 
smaller and of a feeliler constitution than their parent stock, 
the Spanish ]\Ierinos ; the wool was from an inch to an inch 
and a half long on the back and sides, and a washed fleece 
weighed only about one and three-fourths pounds. Attempts 
at improvement ])y crossing with the jNIerinos were made in 
vain ; both deteriorated, and before 1850 the Saxonies had 
mostly gone out. They have been lessening in number 
greatly "ever since, and, although we nominally have about 
a thousand, I doubt if there is a genuine, pure-bred Saxon 
in the State. 

From the long-established policy of the British Govern- 
ment in encouraging and fostering the manufactures of that 
country and of discouraging and even forbidding any 
attempts toward it in her colonies, we found ourselves, at the 
close of the war of the revolution, not onh^ without the man- 
ufactories of woollens, but also destitute of the material from 



which to make such fine goods as were necessary. The atten- 
tion of our statesmen was early directed to su])})ly this 
deficiency, and tliey wisely looked to the Merinos of Spain 
to accomplish it ; but it was with the greatest difficulty that 
the Spanish Government could be persuaded to allow any of 
them to be exported. 

The first important importation of these was made l)y Col. 
David Humphreys of Connecticut, then United States Minis- 
ter to Spain, Avho brought a flock of about one hundred to 
his farm in Derl)y, Connecticut. These increased to such' 
an extent that he made at his mill in 1807 several hundred 
yards of fine cloth. In 1809 President Madison was inducted 
into ofiice in the first inaugural suit of American l)roadcloth, 
the coat from Colonel Hum})hrey's flock, the waistcoat and 
small clothes from the flock of Mr. Livingston of New York. 
Arthur Scholfield wove the first piece of fine broadcloth that 
was ever made in this country from Merino wool, at Pittsfield 
in this State. 

The most impoi-tant early importation, however, was ])y 
Mr. William Jarvis, American consul at Lisbon in Portugal, 
who seized an opportunity to buy some of the finest sheep 
in Spain, the confiscated property of some wealthy noble- 
man, and sent to this State and to clifterent parts of the 
country about thirty-eight hundred fine Merinos, the most 
and finest ever exported. These and others, distril)uted 
over all the States bordering on the Atlantic coast, soon 
changed the character of the wool and wool growing of the 
country. 

It is not strange that we of Massachusetts should have 
taken the lead in this industry of wool growing and wool 
manufacturing as we did in every matter advancing the 
material or the intellectual progress of civilization. The 
first sheep producing the desired quality of wool for making 
fine cloth were either landed on our shores or brought 
directly within our borders, where they were cared for and 
multiplied amazingly. There were then no Western States ; 
Ohio, which has since assumed the lead in sheep raising and 
in sheep legislation, had just received her baptismal nomina- 
tion ; all the sheep, all the implements of manufacture, — 
such as they were, all the men of character and industry, 
were this side the Alleghanies. 



IG 

The men who })hinted themselves on the coast of Massachu- 
setts Bay came not only for religious freedom but to speedily 
build themselves homes with such necessaries and comforts 
as they enjoyed in the homes they had left behind them, by 
laborina" at the same occupations at which they had wrought 
in England. The list of trades and those who Avorked in 
them would astonish one, from glass workers to needle 
makers ; the names of Joseph Jenks, John Pearson, Edward 
Gibl)ou, Israel Stoughton and others who started manufact- 
ures should l)e kept in perpetual rcmeml)rance. 

Our climate is admirably ada})ted to sheep growing, one 
proof of which is that in no country are sheep so little liable 
to disease as in New England, Our rough hills covered 
with sweet herbage from Avhich all su[)erllu()us water disap- 
pears al)out as fast as it falls, and our sharp, dry winds, 
are naturally ada})ted to the wants and conditions of sheep, 
which always thrive best in the purest and most l)racing 
atmosphere. Wet seasons and wet soils are destructive to 
sheep. The New England flock master is forced to recognize 
what the English sheep raisers were long in learning, — the 
economy and benefit of shelter in winter, even in their less 
rigorous climate. The truth is that sheep in New England, 
if well sheltered and furnished with proper food, will [)ro- 
duce better wool and nnitton and a larger increase of laml)s 
than sheep exi)osed, even in the genial climate of Virginia. 
Sheep are most indiscriminate feeders, and delight in a 
change of food. One who takes the i^ains to ol)serve them 
when feeding will be surpris(;d at the continual shifting they 
make from one species of herbage to another, and upon our 
hills and valleys there is to be found the full variety which 
their nature requires. 

The flrst mill for weaving and finishing fine cloth was at 
Pittsfield, run by Arthur Scholfield, a weaver from York- 
shire, who settled here and made the first broadcloth, fine 
enough for any gentleman's wear at that time. Several 
hundred yards of homespun were annually dressed at Rowley 
and Salem. That there was abundant wool of common kind 
widely distributed is shown l)y this fact, among others, that 
in the first years of this century two thousand pairs of hand- 
knit stockings were annually exported from the Island of 
Martha's Vineyard. 



17 



On the loth of November I addressed circulars containing 
a few interrogatories to various men in the State whose 
names were given me as sheep raisers, to the number of 
aljout a hundred. I have been much gratified at the full 
replies made, of which I have received over sixty, for wdiich 
I beg to thank very heartily the senders. I intend if possil)le 
to tal)ulate the results, and to have them presented to the 
pul)lic at some future time. 

The great decline of our sheep and wool commenced 
apparently a1)out fifty years ago. In 1838 we had 384,614 
sheep, of which 200,383 were Merinos, 46,985 were Saxonies, 
and 137,246 other breeds. In 1888, fifty years later, we 
had 51,539 sheep, of which 4,500 were Merinos, 1,000 were 
Saxonies, and about 46,000 other breeds. In 1838 the total 
value of sheep and wool was $1,116,608; in 1888 it was 
$295,000. Thus it will be seen that in fifty years our sheep 
have decreased in numbers over 333,000, and our wool 
812,000 pounds. While our losses in aggregate numbers 
have been very large, yet the gain in individual animals 
shows our great improvement in breeding. 

In 1838 each sheep was valued at $1.50, and sheared two 
and three-fourths pounds to the fleece. Fat laml)s were 
valued at $1.75 each. In 1888 each sheep was worth $5.00, 
and sheared four and one-half pounds of wool, and lambs 
were worth $5.00 each. So that men who own sheep now 
hold a property worth more than ever l^efore. 

The following table shows the diminution of the sheep 
generally, and l)y ])reeds, which, with any adequate causes 
to account for it, I have faithfully pondered over in a spirit 
of unintelligent curiosity : — 



Y E A K S . 


S.ixoiiies. 


Merinos. 


Otiier Breeds. 


Total. 


1845, 


33,875 


165,428 


155,640 


354,943 


1855, 


G,80G 


65,584 


72,825 


145,215 


1865, 


3,126 


55,428 


110,888 


169,442 


1875, 


1,631 


14,456 


42,686 


58,773 


1885, . . . . . 


1,215 


5,307 


48,618 


55,140 



18 

In 1800 the whole numl)er l>y the assessors' returns was 
45,891) ; the breeds are not given. Since 18G5 the decrease 
has been gradual every year, and almost invariable. What 
was the cause or what were the causes that produced this 
unprecedented decline in an industry pleasant and protitable ? 

Decuease in Number of Sheep. 
Those who know nothing of the subject confidently assert 
some one reason ; those who have studied the matter don't 
pretend to know, Init suppose that all the causes assigned 
may, coml)ined, have produced the etiect for which no one 
alone can be regarded adequate. Among the causes assigned 
are the operation and the lluctuation of the tariff; the 
greatly increased importation of wool from Australia, New 
Zealand, South America and other foreign countries ; the 
introduction of shoddy (invented in 1803) to a large extent 
some years later ; the enormously increased importation, by 
enlarged railway facilities, of sheep and lambs from the 
West ; the great increase of the dairy industry in milk, 
cream and l)utter ; the destruction of sheep by dogs ; the 
diminution of flocks induced by the decay of fences. The 
first three of these alleged causes for the decrease of our 
flocks apply especially to loss in the past, while the last four 
show reasons which act against the revival of this industry. 
I pass lightly over these, as, in the talk which will follow 
this paper, these alleged causes will be more fully and satis- 
factorily considered, and this will form the most valuable 
part of this meeting. 

Importation of Sheep from the West. 

One of the most important causes for the decrease of our 
own home-grown sheep for the slaughter for mutton and 
laml) has been the great influx of these animals from the 
"VA'est, from Canada and from other States, for killing and 
not for l)reeding nor the production of wool, induced by the 
vastly increased railway facilities showing a large advance in 
the demand for mutton and lamb in our markets. 

At Brighton, on the week before Christmas, 1839, two 
Franklin County men held four hundred sheep, every one in 
the market ; yet, so ample was that supply and so inactive 



19 

the demand, that they could not raise the market a half cent 
a pound, and finally sold with difiiculty. Just twenty years 
after that, Christmas week, LSoJJ, fiye thousand four hundred 
sheep changed hands from tlie drover to the butcher. On 
the week preceding Christmas, 1889, fifty years from the 
first date, the receipts were $10,444, and the demand such 
as called for advanced rates, and a quarter of a cent per 
pound was easily realized. This increase has continued 
annually. In 1890 the numl)er of live sheep discharged at 
Brighton and Watertown was 583,545, of which the Western 
were 370,067, from Canada 88,313, sheep of Massachusetts 
6,181, from Rhode Island and Connecticut 48 head. A 
very few of these are sold for breeding, some for export, 
but almost all are slaughtered at the market. 

The reports of animals every week (for which I am 
indelited to Mr. Whitaker of the "New England Farmer") 
show receipts varying in numljers from 5,000 in March to 
17,722 in September and October. This indicates a very 
enlarged demand for a most nutritious, cheap and wholesome 
article of food, shown l)y theoretical considerations, as well 
as by careful experiment, to be quite equal to beef and 
superior to pork or almost any of the meats we use. 

Dairy Industry. 
Probably the great interest at the present time and for 
some 3'ears past in the making of milk, cream, butter and 
cheese, with a paying price and quick returns for the prod- 
uct, has had much to do in repressing the keeping of sheep 
and raising lambs, aggravated by the uncertainty of that 
branch of farm industry through destruction by dogs. The 
growth of the dairy production has been as remarkal)le as the 
decrease of sheep products. As a matter for comparison, I 
give the dairy products of 1865, the first year that a com- 
plete census was attempted for them, with the last, of 
1885: — 

1865. 

Milk, $1,930,409 

Butter, 1,389,027 

Cheese, 582,253 

f 3,90 1,689 



20 

1883. 

Milk, ... $10,312,762 

Butter, iiiclucliiig creamery, 2,611,351 

Cheese, including factory, 99,478 

Cream, 202,706 

$13,226,297 

The cows and heifers of 1865 numbered, . ... 174,386 

Tlie cows and heifers of 1885 numbered, .... 198,997 

F'ences. 

I have no douht that imperfect fencing had a considerable 
part in discouragino- farmers who were keeping sheep. INIany 
fences, only enough of which are left to make division lines, 
were built long years ago. The life of a Virginia rail fence 
is about sixty years ; to a stone wall there is no limit of 
duration, l)ut there is to its al)ility to turn sheep. A rail 
fence becomes at last ])roken and rotten in s]iots, and must 
be repaired, sometimes l)y lopping down a small tree, some- 
times by putting in a rotten rail or a couple of insufficient 
stakes. The stone wall, always a "balance wall," has been 
rudely laid a hundred years more or less l)y the unskilled 
hands of the farmer and his hired man ; year after year it has 
settled, and the top stones have tuml)led down, especially 
on a side hill, aided by long years of storm and by careless 
hunters and l>oys. Where the stones have fallen so as to 
make a set of convenient steps, the sheep will cheerfully 
walk over, or will crawl through any hole or gap in a fence. 
Early in the spring the farmer, annoyed at the continual 
excursions of his sheep the preceding season, starts out with 
his boys to mend his fences ; a long, cold, wearisome job it 
is, and usually done in the most slouching and perfunctory 
manner. A few years of this, and he begins to agree with 
the boys that cows are easier kept. 

Recently l)arbed wire has come to our relief, and a single 
strand stretched on posts or stakes al)Ove the top of the wall 
makes it pretty secure, while a fence of four or five strands is 
cheap, will restrain the sheep, and protect them from dogs. 

Tariff. 
Tariff is a dreadful-sounding word, and causes as much 
dismay and terror now as it did when borne by that piratical 
old Arab cut-throat Tarif Il)n malek al-ma-feri, who, taking 



21 

possession of a small island at the straits of Gibraltar, more 
than twelve hundred years ago, levied a compulsory triliute 
from all who came his way sailing in or out of the Mediter- 
ranean, and wlio gave his name to a system of exaction 
which has continued to this day. What influence this Arab- 
born institution may have had on the increase or the diminu- 
tion of sheep and wool of this State, I don't know, and 
haven't been able to find out by a system of careful reading 
and inquiry. Twenty-live or thirty years ago it was a com- 
mon complaint from old farmers who had flocks of hundreds 
of Merinos and Saxonies that their wool growing was ruined 
by the tariff", and that they had to abandon sheep raising. 
My opinion is that, for the past thirty 3'^ears at least, the 
effect of any legislation would be very immaterial, con- 
sidering the small quantity and low grade of our wool, in 
reducing to any large extent the numl^er of our sheep so 
terril)ly depleted ; but I leave this to be settled in the discus- 
sion to follow. 

Dogs and Sheep. 

Beyond all question the real reason which deters farmers 
from engaging in the raising and breeding of sheep at the 
present time is the constant apprehension of the destruction 
of flocks and their demoralization by dogs. Our observa- 
tion and the statements of sheep growers generally through- 
out the Commonwealth universally show this. We are 
often asked by dog owners why there is so much complaint 
now, when there was but little fifty or sixty years ago. 
The answer is that in numbers the dogs and the sheep are 
out of all proportion to what they were then. Then, when 
there were three hundred and forty thousand sheep, with 
but few dogs, and the sheep in flocks of hundreds, and each 
sheep worth only a dollar and a half, if a half-dozen sheep 
were killed they might not he missed, and, if they were, 
the damage was inconsiderable ; but now, when a man has a 
flock of say forty, each worth six dollars, and often bearing 
lambs, ravages by dogs, killing a half or a third of his 
flock, tearing others and demoralizing all, become a very 
serious matter. I shall not go into any detail of the losses 
we have had, nor shall I attempt to stir up agitation. It is 
of no use ; dogs and dog ow^ners have the mastery, and a 
double-barreled shot gun with eleven buckshot, or a few 



22 

grains of strychnine placed in a lieef s head judiciously 
located as a preventive against loss {by foxes) , are our only 
guards. To show how vmavailing any attempt at legislation 
must be, it is enough to give some figures. 

The census show^s 15,218 dogs, valued by their 13,071 
owners at $10.35 each. So much for dog owners and census 
returns when they make such returns as suit themselves. 
The county treasurer's books show the tax paid on dogs to 
be, for 1890, $169,057. The tax is $2.00 per head for males, 
and $5.00 for females. The number of dogs has not been 
returned to the comptroller, l)ut, as he says, the numl)er of 
female dogs being small, you can allow $3,000 for them; 
dividing the rest of the tax by two gives you 88,000 dogs 
and al)out as many dog owners, as against 45,899 sheep and 
2,500 owners. It's a pitiable sight: 2,500 men contending 
for the right to enjoy a peaceable, legitimate and i)rofitable 
industry, against 88,000 holders of generally dangerous, 
savage and worthless non-producing brutes. 

Sheep as Food. 
Mutton and lamb are favorite food of the English and 
Scotch of all classes ; notwithstanding all that has been said 
or written of the " roast ])eef of Old England," more mutton 
is eaten by peo[)le of every rank than l)eef. Mutton for- 
merly was not a favorite food of the people of the United 
States, though the proportional consumption is greatly 
increasing ; the difterence may be largely attributed to cir- 
cumstances which have led to habit, and habit to a large 
extent regulates the appetite. The circumstances may be 
partly these : that formerly we had none of the real mutton 
sheep to eat ; our old native stock was poor, and the Merinos 
vastly worse. The sheep formerly killed were too often old 
and poor, and the cheapness of the animals too often l>rought 
them as food to those who were compelled to eat them ; tkrm 
laborers, apprentices, servants and others learned to thor- 
oughly dislike mutton ; and many men and women so far 
advanced as to have perhaps every other recollection of 
school days wiped from the memory, still retain in the most 
lively manner the disgust created l)y the inevital^le daily 
mutton of the boarding-house. The remarkable experiments 



23 

of Dr. Beaumont, conducted more than fifty years ago, are 
authority to tliis day. He found that kimb and nuillon were 
more digestible than any other meats we are in tlie habit of 
consuming, were assimilated more readily to the system, and 
consequently are more nutritious. 

While mutton is regarded by medical men and physiolo- 
gists as the most nutritious meat, it is also the most econom- 
ical to purchase at the usual prices. English chemists and 
philosophers, by a series of careful experiments, find that 
100 pounds of beef in boiling lose 26 1 pounds, in roast- 
ing 32 pounds, and in baking 30 pounds, by evaporation and 
loss of soluble matter, juices, water and fat, jNIutton lost by 
boiling 21 pounds and l)y roasting 24 pounds ; or, in another 
form of statement, a leg of mutton costing raw 15 cents 
would cost boiled and prepared for the table 18 1 cents 
per pound. Boiled fresh beef would at the same price cost 
19^ cents per pound; sirloin of l^eef raw, at 16^ cents, 
costs roasted 24 cents; while a leg of mutton at 15 cents 
would cost roasted only 22 cents. These facts have been 
long known and demonstrated, and it is to be much desired 
that our people should appreciate them and apply them to 
daily use. The taste for and consumption of mutton will 
increase according to the quantity and quality of the pro- 
duction. Mr. Mechi, the celebrated farmer and scientist, 
said he was convinced that beef must sell twenty per cent 
higher than mutton to make it pay. 

In this connection it is })ertinent to recall the statement 
previously made before this Board by one of its most 
prominent members, of the necessity, in slaughtering sheep 
and lambs, to remove innnediately the paunch and intestines 
before skinning. If allowed to remain in only a few minutes, 
they will impart a strong, disagreeable "sheep taste." 
Probably ignorance and a disregard of this important fjict 
are largely responsilde for the disgust in which the flesh of 
mutton and lamb was formerly held. 

The keeping of sheep requires constant care and is full of 
solicitude, but it is profitable, and, as farming goes among 
the occupations of men, it is pleasant. This is the com- 
mercial and prosaic view ; but there is an incident in our 
history connected with this, poetical and solemn. In 



24 

this late season of the year, and at the approach to 
Christmas Day, we cannot dissever the thoughts of this 
industry from this occasion. It cannot be foreign to our 
minds, nor is it unworthy of us as Christian men, to remem- 
ber and note that the first announcement of the birth of tlie 
Saviour of the world was made, not to the scientific astrolo- 
gers who made the heavens their study, not to the learned 
scril)es and Pharisees who pondered the law and the prophets, 
and not to those who lived in kings' houses clothed in fine 
raiment ; but it was to shepherds who watched their fiocks 
l)y night on the star-lighted plains of -Judea, followed ])y the 
suljlimest solo and chorus that ever fell on mortal ears, of 
" Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good- will 
toward men." 

The CuAiRMAX. Gentlemen, I know I voice your opinion 
when, as chairman for tlxe day, I thank Mr. Grinnell for his 
most charming and instructive paper. Mr. Hollis of Boston 
has kindly come here to give us some figures relative to the 
amount of mutton that is consumed in Massachusetts. We 
all know that there is an immense amount of mutton and 
lanil) consumed here which has been imported into this State. 
We have plenty of land, and all we want is a little ambition 
among farmers to become shepherds, and we can raise a 
large })ercentage, if not all, of the mutton and lamb that is 
needed in Massachusetts. "Will Mr. Hollis kindly give us a 
few figures? 

Mr. Hollis. I arrived in town this morning a few 
minutes before I came up here, and I am not pre})ared to 
oive any fioures. 

The Chairmax. In a general way can you not say about 
how many carcasses you slaughter or your company slaugh- 
ters ? 

Mr. Hollis. Well, I happen to have in my pocket a 
little paper on which I have kept a memorandum of the 
num1)er of sheep we have slaughtered since 1885. In 1885 
we slaughtered 376,415 ; in 1886, 367,822 ; in 1887, 390,272 ; 
in 1888^, 387,345; in 1889, 396,124; in 1890, 414,6|0. In 
the ten months of this year, up to the first of Xovemoer, we 
slaughtered 357,484. 



25 

The Chairman. Thank you very luucli. Thut shows, 
gentlemen, that the deniiind for mutton is not on the decrease, 
AVill Mr. IloUis khidly tell us about what ]n-ice nmttoii has 
averaged tor the last eight or ten months ? 

Mr. HoLLis. I do not think that I could. It varies from 
month to month. 

The CiiAiiiMAX. But for good fair mutton you usually 
get from 5 to (i cents a pound for the carcass dressed, do 
you not? 

Mr. HoLLis. 1 think it will vary from fi to 10 cents a 
pound, and laml)s from (J to 12^ cents. 

Mr. Grinnell. What ])roportion of the carcasses are 
exported from Boston? 

Mr. HoLLLS. There has not been any exported for the 
last two or three years. I do not think there is any mutton 
exported from the United States now. 

Mr. Grinnell. Then of course all the sheep that come 
into the Bri<>hton and AA^atertown markets are slaughtered 
there ? 

Mr. IIoLLis. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Grinnell. Is there any reason for the variation in 
the amounts in one year and another? 

Mr. HoLLis. That is owing to the supply and demand. 
There is no particular reason for it, that I know of. 

Governor Hoard. I would like to ask the gentleman 
from what territory those sheep are mostly obtained ? 

Mr. HoLLis. You might say from Halifax do\vn to 
Virginia. From the tirst of June until the tirst of Septem- 
ber we get our supply from Kentucky, Tennessee and Vir- 
ginia. 

Governor Hoard. Have you noticed any particular 
improvement in the mutton character of the sheep you have 
received during this year ? 

Mr. HoLLis. From some sections there is, others not. 

Governor Hoard. From what sections do you tind an 
improvement? 

Mr. HoLLis. From some paits of the West and some 
sections in Canada. 

Governor Hoard. I mean, of course, in the eating quality. 

Mr. HoLLis. Yes, sir ; we see quite an inn)roveinent in 
the sheep conn'ng from Virginia and Tennessee. 



26 

Governor Hoard. Do you attril)ute it to improved l)reed- 
ing? 

Mr. HoLLis. Yes, sir. 

The Chatkman. Well, oentlenien, we have learned that 
there is a demand for mntton, and we want to learn how to 
raise it, and Ave want to know how to keep ont troublesome 
and dangerous intruders. Mr. Sessions, I think, is pre- 
pared to talk a little about fencing. 

Secretary Sessions. Mr. Chairman, I am of the opinion 
that the proposition advanced by the lecturer that the fence 
question has had considerable influence in the decadence of 
sheep keeping in Massachusetts is correct. As I go among 
farmers and talk about the sheep industry they reply 
to me, "We cannot keep them anywhere; it will cost so 
much to fence them in or fence them out that it is a nui- 
sance ; and without fences we do not know where we shall 
find them in the morning or in the evening." Now, this is 
a serious problem, as the lecturer has pointed out. The 
fences in the more rural and farming districts of the State 
are of the character which he has noted, — the old Vir- 
ginia rail fence and stone wall ; and every one who has 
had experience with sheej) knows liiat a stone wall is of 
very little use, unless it is a very ex})ensive wall, l)uilt 
perpendicular on the side towards the shec}). And then, 
again, the old \'irginia fence that was a good fence when 
it was first built, becomes old and dilapidated and costs 
a great deal for repairs ; and when y(ni have got to refence 
a })asture or make repairs to any great extent, the cost 
will ])(' enough lo deter a beginner tVom undertaking to 
raise sheep. 

Now, the (>ssayist also alluded to a new material for fenc- 
ing, — barbed wire. There is in the minds of some people, 
many people, ])crhaps, a i)re)udice against l)arbed wire, 
because of its liability to injure any animal : but my own 
experience teaches me that that objection does not ap})ly to 
sheep. I have fenced shct^]) for years with barbed wire, and 
I never knew a shec}) to be injured by it. Occasionally a 
sheep will be caught by it, and perhaps a trifle of wool will 
be pulled off, l)ut the waste and sufiering that comes to the 
sheep from that cause is trifling. 



27 

Now, of course the (juestion of fencina- in shee}) with any 
kind of fence depends upon its cost and its adaptability to 
the end in view; and with us I think the f|uesti()n of cost is 
really the one to l)e considered, for it is perfectly patent to 
every man that I)arhed-\vire fence can l)e so constructed as 
to turn sheep. There is another point aliout this barl)ed- 
wire fenc(^ which does not apply to a fence of any other 
material, and that is, that it can he made so as to turn dogs. 
1 think it is perfectly feasible to construct a fence that will 
turn dogs ; and the cheapness of the material as now fur- 
nished by the manufacturer is such that the cost of a fence 
that will not only turn sheep but protect them from dogs is 
comparatively small. I have some tigures which I have 
collated from information obtained from ditferent parties ; 
and, having applied to them my own experience, obser- 
vation and judgment, I believe the estimates are reliable 
considering the circumstances under which they are made. 
Of course, in making an estimate of the possible or the prob- 
able cost of a certain kind of fence, the estimate must be 
made u}K)n some delinite set of circumstances ; and it is only 
safe to ])redicate upon the most favorable circumstances, 
because the amount of obstacles to be overcome will vary in 
different circumstances and under the different conditions of 
different farmers, and that must be calculated by the indi- 
vidual himself, he only knowing what the obstacles are. I 
refer to the cost of digging post-holes, the cost of overcom- 
ing the difficulty of uneven ground, getting through bushes, 
and all that sort of thino-. These tigures were based lari^ely 
u[)()n a statement of the cost of eighty rods of six-wire fence 
built about two years ago by Mr. Henry Green of Hadley, 
Mass. He says there has not been a single dog in the pas- 
ture since the fence Avas finished. The four lower Avires are 
placed nearer together than the two upi)er ones: The fence 
is four feet high and the posts one rod apart, which is suffi- 
cient to sui)})ort a barbed-wire fence. The wire co.st 4 cents 
per rod ; the staples 1 cent per rod ; the posts cost 7 cents 
each. Mr. Green says that two men can set the posts and 
string the wire for twenty-tive rods in a day. The cost of 
labor })er day is say $1.50 per man, or at the rate of 12 cents 
per rod. So we have as the cost per rod : six strands of 



28 

barbed wire, at 4 cents, 24 cents; staples, 1 cent ; one post, 
7 cents ; lal)()r settinii' })<)sts and strinainir wire, 12 cents. 
Total, 44 cents. This, renienil)er, is a doii-proof as well as 
a sheep-proof fence. 

I have also received, at my request, a [)rice-list from the 
Washlnirn & Moen Manufactiirinir (Joni})any, Worcester, 
which gives the cost of tirst-quality galvanized (Hidden 
l)arbed wire at 4 cents i)er pound, and they state that it 
weighs one pound per rod, and their discount for cash will 
cover the freight. So that Mr. Green's estimate of 4 cents 
per rod is borne out by the price-list of the largest manu- 
facturing establishment of the kind in the State. 

I have also a statement from Prof. W. P. Brooks of the 
Massachusetts Agricultural College that one man set the 
posts (one rod apart) and strung the wire for sixty rods 
of tive-strand wire fence on the college farm in less than two 
days. This proves that the labor estimate in the tirst instance 
is a fair one. 

These statements correspond with my own exi)erience. 
They are for work done where the soil is not stony or under- 
laid with hard-})an. Allowance nuist of course be made for 
such obstacles. 

From the foregoing 1 calculate that it will cost to fence a 
square lot of ten acres (one hundred and sixty rods) with 
six wires and posts 1^70.40, or, per acre, |7.()4. I am satis- 
tied that tive wires can be so arranged as to be a dog-proof 
fence as well as a shee})-})r()of fence ; and therefore I have 
made a calculation of the cost of a tive-wire fence, which 
amounts to $()2.4() for a s(|uai'e lot often acres, or 1(5.24 per 
acre. As you all know, the larger the Held the less the dis- 
tance around it. I ha\ c on that account made calculations 
for several sizes. To fcMice a square lot of twenty acres 
(two hundred and twenty-six rods), six wires, with })()sts, 
$99.44, or a cost per acre of $4.97 ; with tive wires and 
posts, $88.14, or a cost per acre of $4.41. 

But there is another set of conditions on many of our 
pastures, es[)ecially upon the hills in the western part of 
the State and upon the })in(> plains of that section, where 
the pastures have been neglected and c()nsi(leral)le timber has 
started, and where a line of tr(^es will l)e found alonu' the line 



29 

ot" the proposed fence,, so that in many instances posts can be 
dispensed with by strinoini*- the wire on trees. Of course the 
trees Avould not be at regidar distances in all cases ; l)ut l)y 
having posts every six, eight, or even ten rods, the inter- 
vening supports can be made of stakes which can l)e driven, 
with the help of a bar to make the holes, at a comparatively 
trifling cost, and the material can be gotten from the trees 
as you go along. I have therefore made a calculation here, 
leaving out the posts and the cost of setting the posts, so that 
persons having pastures situated in the way I have described 
may reduce the necessary cost of fencing very consideral)ly. 
My calculations are as follows : — 

To fence a square lot of 20 acres, six wires (226 rods), posts, $99.44 

Cost per acre, 4.97 

With five wires and posts, 88.14 

Cost per acre, 4.41 

To fence a square lot of 20 acres, six wii'es, where trees take 
the place of posts, discountinj^ cost of posts and one-half 

cost of labor, 70.06 

Cost per acre, 3.60 

With five wires on trees, 58.76 

With five wires on trees, per acre, 2.94 

To fence a square lot of 30 acres (277 rods), posts, six wires, . $121.88 

To fence a S(iuare lot of 30 acres (277 rods), posts, five wires, . 108.03 

Cost per acre, six wires, 4.06 

Cost i^er acre, five Avires, 3.93 

To fence a square lot of 30 acres, without i^osts (trees), six 

wires, . . . 85.87 

To fence a square lot of 30 acres, without jiosts (trees), five 

wires, . . . . . . '. . . . • 72.02 

Cost per acre, six wires, . . . . . . . . 2.86 

Cost i^er acre, five wires 2.40 

To fence a square lot of 50 acres (358 rods), posts, six wires, $157.52 

To fence a square lot of 50 acres (358 rods), posts, five wires, 139.62 

Cost per acre, six wires, 3.15 

Cost per acre, five wires, 2.79 

To fence a square lot of 50 acres, without posts (trees), six 

wires, • • • • .110.98 

To fence a square lot of 50 acres, without posts (trees), five 

wires, 93.08 

Cost per acre, six wires, • 2.22 

Cost per acre, five wires, l.SG 

To fence a square lot of 75 acres {VM rods), posts, six wires, |192.28 
To fence a square lot of 75 acres (437 rods), posts, five wires, 170.43 



30 

Cost per acre, six wii-es, $2 . 56 

Cost per acre, five wires, 2 . 27 

To fence a square lot of 75 acres, without posts (trees), six 

wires, 135.47 

To fence a square lot of 75 acres, without posts (trees), five 

wires, . . 

Cost per acre, six wires, 

Cost per acre, five wires, 



113. 


62 


1. 


.81 


1. 


.51 


1221, 


.32 


196. 


,17 


2, 


.2L 


1 


.96 



To fence a square lot of 1()() acres (.")0;> rods), posts, six wires, 
To fence a square lot of 100 acres (503 rods), posts, five wires. 

Cost per acre, six wires, 

Cost per acre, five wires, 

To fence a square lot of 100 acres, without posts (trees), six 

wires, . . ' 155.93 

To fence a scpiare lot of 100 acres, without posts (trees), five 

wires, 

Cost per acre, six wires, 

Cost per acre, five wires, 



130. 


,78 


1. 


.55 


1, 


.31 


<315, 


.04 


279. 


.24 


1, 


.57 


1, 


.39 



To fence a square lot of 200 acres (716 rods), posts, six wires. 
To fence a square lot of 200 acres (716 rods), posts, five wires. 

Cost per acre, six wii'es, 

Cost per acre, five wires, 

To fence a scjuare lot of 200 acres, without posts (trees), six 

wires, 221.96 

To fence a scjuarc lot of 200 acres, without posts (trees), five 

wires, ........... 186.16 

Cost i)er acre, six wires, 1.11 

Cost per acre, five wires, .93 

To fence a squai'e lot of 500 acres (1,131 rods), posts six wires, $197.64 

To fence a square lot of 500 acres (1,131 rods), posts, five wires, 441 .09 

Cost per acre, six wires, ... . . . , . . .99 

Co.st i>er acre, five wires, .88 

To fence a square lot of 500 acres, without posts (trees), six 

wires, ........... 350.61 

To fence a square lot of 500 acrcvs, without posts (trees), five 

wires, 294.06 

Cost per acre, six wires, . .70 

Cost per acre, five wires, .59 

To fence a square lot of 1,000 acres (1,600 rods), posts, six 

wires, f704.00 

To f ence a s(juai"e lot of 1,000 acres (1,000 rods), i)osts, five 

wires, 624.00 

Cost per acre, six wires, .70 

Cost per acre, live wires, .62 

To fence a square lot of 1,000 at;res, without posts (trees), six 
wires, 496.00 



31 

To fence a square lot of 1,000 acres, without posts (trees) five 

wii-es, $416.00 

Cost per acre, six wires, . . .49 

Cost per acre, five wires, ,41 

So you .see it does not take ii fortune to fence Ji large lot. 
And this, remember, is a dog-proof fence as well as a sheep- 
})roof fence. 

The Chairman. Well, gentlemen, we have not only found 
that we can afford to raise sheep in Massachusetts, hut we 
have found out by actual figures that it is cheaper to luiild 
a dog-proof fence than it is to lay up a stone wall. 

Mr. GiiixxELL, Does anybody know the cost of a board 
fence Ijuilt of boards say six inches wide, four on a post? 

The Chairman. Mr. Horton, will you kindly tell us the 
expense of a board fence ? 

Mr. Horton. It is very easy to get at the expense of 
such a fence as that. The boards for a four-board fence with 
us cost on an average about $16 per thousand feet, which 
would l)e |1.(>0 for a hundred feet offence. It takes double 
the number of posts that it does for a wire fence, and the 
posts require to l)e better posts than for a wire 'fence. 
Under ordinary circumstances a l)oard and post fence four 
feet high would cost something over a dollar a rod, — from 
$1.06 to $1.10, using good material. Figuring it upon that 
basis, it would cost about three times what it would to make 
a wire fence. 

The Chairman. And, instead of keeping dogs out, it 
invites them to jump through. Gentlemen, we want to cover 
the ground of sheep hus])andry as carefully as we can, and I 
will call on Mr. J. D. Avery of Buckland, who has been a 
practical and successful shepherd for a good many years. 

J. D. Avery. Mr. Chairman, some few weeks ago I 
received a line from the essayist suggesting that I make a 
com})ari s( )n 1 )et ween dai ry i ng and shec}) gro \vi ng. I attempted 
to do this, but have not succeeded, for the reason that the 
dairymen were not prepared to give me tigures showing 
their receipts and expenses. I have tigures from three sheep 
farmers, showing their receii)ts, and in one instance the 
writer gives me his expenses, and it may be interesting to 
you to hear those tigures read. 

The first tlock to which I w^ill call your attention consisted 



32 

of 21 l)reediu<>- ewes in the year iSiK). They were fed in)on 
roweii hay twiee a day (hiring the Avinter till the tirnt of 
March ; after that they were fed oftener, and a daily ration 
of urain was added, eonsisting- of bran four quarts, oats four 
(juarts, and corn two (juarts. They were turned to pasture 
May 1. The receipts tliat year were as follows: — 

28 lamlj.s, aveivage weight August 1, 91 pounds, sold at GJ 

cents per pound, . flG5.G2 

1G8 i)ounds wool, at 22 cents, 3G.9G 



Total, f202.58 

which is very nearly $10 per head. This gontlenian gave 
nie no tigures of the expense except the grain, which amounted 
to only $9 for the 21 sheep. 

Quh:stion. AYhere were those sheep kept? 

Mr. Avery. This Hock was in the town of Shell)urne. 

Question. What was the l)recd of shee]i? 

Mr. Avery. A high-grade South Down. 1 have known 
this gentleman's flock for the last ten or fifteen years, and 
he has used nothing l)ut the very best of pure-bred South 
Down sires. He has ])aid on an average proba])ly $2;") for 
those rams, used them two years, then changed them to 
prevent in-breeding, and he has replenished his flock by 
keei)ing the best of the lambs. I flgure those lambs as all 
sold at ()| cents per pound : he did not sell them all, but of 
course it is perfectly fair to tigure them at that price. He 
reserved five of the best of the lambs, which averaged 100 
pounds apiece. 

Question. At what age? 

Mr. Avery. They were drop[)ed in March, and they 
were sold the first of August. Something like five months, 
perha})s. He has improved his flock in that w ay, by using the 
best pure-bred sires and selecting the best of the lambs. 
Xow, these lambs Avonld have brought him 6| cents a 
l)oun(l per head if he had sold them, and most of us would 
l)rol>ably have thought that was too nnich of a temptation 
to resist, and would have let them go to the butcher; but, 
if we are going to get a flock of sheep which will give us the 
result which this flock gave him, I do not know of any way 
that we can get them excej)! to raise them in this way, I 



33 

have made an estimate of the expense. The <>i-ain as he has 
given it to me would amount to about |9 ; hay, estimated at 
61 tons, at $10 per ton, $68 ; pasturing 21 sheep 2S weeks, 
at 5 cents each per week .(which I think is a very liberal 
estimate), $29.40; service of ram, $5'.25 ; making a total of 
$106.65, which leaves a balance of receipts above expenses 
of $95.98. 

Question'. He got about $1.75 each for the wool? 

Mr. Avery. Yes, sir; just al)out that. 

The Chairman. That i)roves just what I have been trying 
to impress upon the farmers of Massachusetts for the last 
eight or ten years, with very jjoor success ; that is, that any 
farmer who has a good flock of sheep and who knows how to 
treat them as Mr. Avery and the gentleman who has given 
the statement which has l)een read here do, with average 
good luck, may reasonably expect to get an income of twenty- 
flve per cent of the investment. 

QuESTiox. Is that a continuous income from the sheep, — 
an income that conies every day? 

The Chairmax. It does not come every day. 

Mr. A VERY. It comes perhaps twice a year. I have a 
statement from another gentleman who raises what we term 
early ltim])s, or spring lambs, Avhich are turned to market 
without ever l)eing turned to grass. In this case the lamias 
were dropped in Decenilier and carried to market in March 
and April. Flock No. 2 numl)ered in 1890 17 l)reeding 
ewes. The receipts from these 17 ewes were as follows : — 

150 pounds wool, at 23 cents, $34.50 

16 lambs, at ^9.061; 145.00 

3 lambs, at .$5, 15.00 

Total, $194.05 

I presume those three lambs which he kept came later, 
and were reserved to replenish his stock. I made an esti- 
mate of the expense of this flock also, as follows : — 

5^^3 tons of haj-, at $10 per ton, $51.00 

Grain for sheep, 25.50 

Grain for lanibs, 10.00 

Pasturing 17 sheep 2S weeks, at ;> cents each, . . . . 14.28 

Service of i"am, 4.25 

Total, $111. Oa 

Balance of receipts above expenses, ,$83.47. 



34 

In this ease there were no hinib.s to be pastured, and the 
ewes could ))e pastured for about one-half the cost of those 
that luive laniljs, as lambs must have the l)est of pasture. 
This flock of sheep was produced by crossin<>: a Spanish 
Merino ram upon grade Cotswold and Leicester ewes, and 
those ewes will weigh from 12") to 150 pounds. They drop 
their lambs A'ery early, most of them in December; and they 
are ready for market early, and bring a l)etter price than 
those which are dropped lat(n\ 

^Ir. AYake. It will be noticed, proba1)ly, that there has 
been no credit given for the manure during this time, which 
is a fair item of credit. 

Mr. Aa'eky. I have offset the manure against the labor, 
which is a very lil)eral allowance for the lal)or. 1 should be 
very glad to take a thousand sheej) and take care of them 
for one-half the manure, if any one would furnish the hay 
and grain. 

The CiiAiKMAX. You mean to Ix' lil)eral in your esti- 
mates ?■ 

Mr. AvEKV. Yes, sir: 1 mean to be. 

(Question. I would like to ask Mr. Avery, if he increased 
his flock four or Ave fold, if he would get the same result as 
from a smaller flock ? 

Mr. AvEr.v. rrol)ably not. Sheep will do better in 
small flocks. I do not think the result would be as good 
with a large flock. I think it is usually considered in that 
light. 

Flock No. o consisted of 53 ewes, (5 laml)s and 1 ram, 
making 60 in all. The expenses were as follows : — 

Grain for shee]) and lambs, 1104.50 

Hay, estimated at $2 per head 120.00 

Pastm-ing (JO sheep 28 weeks, at ;) cents, 50. -lO 

Service of ram, . 13.25 

Total, ^288.15 

The owner of this flock gave me an estimate of the expenses. 
He said the grain which he fed to his sheep was kept separate, 
so that he knew just what his grain cost him which he fed to 
his sheep and lanil)s, and it amounted to the sum I have 
given. I will say that he also raises Avhat we term (^arly 



35 

lam1>s. His recei})ts for lainl)s and wool sold ainountcd to 
462y.50. He did not divide this up for me. I had asked 
him in previous years what he was oetting- for his lambs, Init 
he never seemed inclined to tell me, and he has not here. 
He gave, as the total receipts for laml)s and wool, $()2!).r)0, 
M'liich you Avill see is almost $10.50 per head. l)alanc(> of 
receipts above expenses, $841.35. 

These sheep are the Vermont Merino. They are a very 
su})erior flock of shee]i for that breed. They will weigh 
probably 100 or 110 i)Ounds each, and probably shear from 
eight to ten pounds of wool each. They drop their lambs 
in Noveml)er and December. I saw the gentleman two 
weeks ago, and he had nine lambs at that time, and more 
coming right along. He has the advantage of the rest of 
us in marketing his laml)s, or has taken the advantage, by 
selling his laml)s dressed directly to the hotels in this city. 
He has a son here who has assisted in finding him a market, 
and I presume he gets one or two dollars a head more than 
the rest of us. I think he must. 

Governor Hoard. Is the sire a Merino also? 

Mr. Avery. No, sir. In all the cases of which I have 
spoken, the sire is a pure-l)red South Down. 

The Chairmax. Mr. Avery, won't you give us an account 
of your own flock, which is prol)ably one of the best in the 
State ? 

Mr. Avery. No, sir; I cannot show as good figures as 
these men. 

The Chair3Ian. These are all too good. You know 
people will not lielieve some of these stories. 

Mr. Avery. Well, I have not prepared any figures from 
my own flock. 

Secretary Sessions. How many do you keep? 

Mr. Avery. I keep from 100 to 300. 

Secretary Sessions. Your experience as far as you could 
give it would be very interesting, because your flock is a 
large one compared with those which you have mentioned. 

Mr. Avery. I can tell you al^out what I get for my 
lambs, and about what I think it costs to raise them. The 
best that I have ever done in any year was some five or six 
years ago, when I raised 200 lambs from 180 ewes, and sold 



3G 

those lauil)s for $1,()00, uiid my wool averaged me al»out 
$1.50 })er head. But I estimate the expense of keeping sheep 
higher than most farmers do. I have never weighed and 
kei)t an accurate account of the grain, l)ut 1 think it costs me 
al)out $3 per head for grain for the ewes and lambs, which 
is more than a dollar a head higher than this gentleman 
estimates of whom I haAC last spoken ; l)ut he says he does 
not know what the exact cost was. Perhaps he did not feed 
as nuu'h grain as I do. 

The Chairman. Do you feed grain in summer? 

Mr. Avery. No, sir. 

Mr. (tRixxell. When does he turn his ]aml)s':' That 
makes a ditference, 

Mr. Avery. His laml)s are dropped in November and 
Deceml)er, nearly all of them, jjcrhaps ^ome as late as Jan- 
uary ; and they are marketed in ]\larch and April mostly, 
some })erhaps as late as May. 

Hon. John E. Russell. Do you keep oOO sheep in one 
flock? 

Mr. Avery. No, sir ; I do not. In the winter my floclv 
is divided np into pens of perhaps 25, although perhaps 75 
or 100 will be connected, with just a l)oard fence, you might 
say, between them. The hay I estimate at $o per head and 
the grain at §o per head for sheep which raise early lambs. 1 
know that is a higher estimate than most farmers make, and 
perhaps it is too high. I haAc thought sometimes that I 
woidd experiment in that direction, and weigh my hay and 
keej) an accurate account of the grain ; l)ut it would be quite 
an undertaking, especially to keep an account of the grain, 
where there is a mixed stock and the stock are all fed from 
one bin. 

Secretary Sessioxs. What is your estimate for pas- 
turage ? 

]Mr. Avery. I have figured the cost at 8 cents per week 
for '21 or 2<S weeks, l)ut it does not actually cost me that. 
I hire pastures, and in that way I get them })astured for 
periiaps 2 cents a week sometimes. 

Secretary Sessions. What is your pasture? 

Mr. Avery. It is an old })asture, hilly and rough. 

QuESTiox. Do you take any ])recautions against dogs? 



37 

Mr. Avery. Xo, sir ; I have not taken any precautions 
against dogs, and never have had any serious troul)k'. In 
some sections of our county some very valual)le flocks have 
keen entirely ruined l)y dogs. I have fortunately escaped 
anything of that sort. 

There is one point to which the essayist alluded which I 
Avish to emphasize, and that is, that the keeping of sheep 
recjuires constant care and attention. I think there is where 
many of us fail. We think that we can slight the sheep; 
that they can get along almost any way, and shirk for them- 
selves. That is not so. They reijuire a certain amount of 
care. They do not require anywhere near as nuich care as 
a herd of cows, the labor is not nearly so much ; but they 
should have just as good care as you give your cows. If 
you neglect your dairy coavs for a day or two, the milk pail 
will tell the story ; but it is not so Avith sheep : none l)ut a 
practised eye will notice the difference. But, if you are 
raising early lambs especially, those laml)s aaIII A^ery soon 
shoNv any neglect, and if they are neglected for a short time 
they ncA'cr Avill recover from it. There is no way to get 
along Avith them and raise them successfully but to give them 
2[ood care and attention and aood feed, and fit them for mar- 
ket as soon as possil)le. The sooner and the younger they 
can be prepared for market, the greater aaIII be the profit. 
It costs less to fit lambs for market if you do it in eight or 
ten AA'eeks than it does to be tAveh-e or fourteen aliout it. 

A. J. BucKLix (of Adams). AVhat is your method of 
housing in the Avinter ? Hoav large an extent of shed room 
do you require ? 

]Mr. Avery. ]My sheep sheds are old-fashioned, as 3'ou 
might say. The sheds Avere built before I Avent on the farm, 
proliably thirty or forty years ago, and they are not remark- 
ably warm ; Init still, by fixing them up a little I make them 
Avarm enough, — as warm as I care to have them. I hardly 
ever lose a lamb in cold weather on account of getting chilled. 
As to the amount of s})ace Avhich they require, I haA'e in one 
pen now, Avhich is 2(> feet square, 50 ewes, and I think that 
is perhaps as close as they should be ; perhaps more room 
Avould l>e l)etter for them, ])ut still they will do very Avell 
Avith that amount of room. After they drop their lambs and 



38 

the laiiil)s begin to eat, it will be neeessary to give them 
more room. 

Governor Hoakd. I would like to ask the gentleman how 
many nmtton sheep can l)e kept safely in one flock? 

jNIr. Aa'ery. Do you mean in the pasture, or in the l)arn ? 

Governor Hoard. In the })asture hrst. 

Mr. Avery. Well, the largest numl)er I have kept as a 
rule is 75 or <S0. 

Governor Hoard. How many in winter quarters? 

Mr. Avery. The largest numl)er which I have in one 
pen at the present time is 50. I do not know but they might 
be kept in larger numbers safely, but 1 do not think it is a» 
well. If they are kept in small tiocks it prevents their 
crowding. 

The Chairman. If Mr. Avery will alloAv me, I have kept 
as many as 500 in one flock without any detriment, Avhere 
there was plenty to eat in the ]iasture. In winter I should 
always divide them up into flocks of oO or 40, although I am 
at present keeping 175 in one flock, and they do very well. 
You have got to use lots of connnon sense with sheep, besides^ 
care. 

Governor Hoard. Have you had any experience in feed- 
ing ensilage to sheep? 

Mr. Avery. I have not. 

Mr. Haven. AVhat breed are your sheep? 

Mr. Avery. ]My sheep are grade South Downs. 

Mr. Haven. Have you tried other breeds? 

Mr. Avery. I have tried the ^Merino, and had very fair 
success with them. 

Governor Hoard. In Wisconsin we have had quite dis- 
astrous results in feeding sheep Avhen Avith lamb too heavily 
with ensilage. It being a carl)onaceous food, it did not seem 
to give the proper growth, (an you house nmtton sheep 
closely with safety? And, in connection with that matter 
of housing, I w^ant to know whether you can secure thorough 
ventilation in your houses in winter? 

Mr. Avery. Well, if they are housed closely, it is very 
necessary and important that the pens should be ventilated 
in some w^ay. There are very few days in the Avinter when 
some of the windows of my sheep pen are not open. 



39 

Governor Hoard. Do you keep them constantly bedded, 
so that they shall not lie in tilth? 

Mr. Avery. 1 do, most certainly. 

Governor Hoard. AVhat do you use for l)edding? 

]\Ir. Avery. I use brakes, as a rule, which I mow in the 
})astures. 

Governor Hoard. How would you handle and feed a 
ewe when she lambs in December, for instance, and you 
want to prepare that lamb for early spring mutton? 

]\Ir. A^ERY. I should feed her well from the time she 
went to the l)arn. I should Avant her to 20 into winter 
quarters in good condition ; and, if I had ])leuty of tine 
early-cut hay and rowen, that would 1)e all I would care for 
until after lambing. Soon after the laml) Avas dropped I 
should commence to feed a little grain, and the amount of 
grain would depend upon the quality of the hay. I have 
fed as high as a quart, — I have fed higher than that. I 
once fed a few ewes which had two lambs each, — I was fat- 
tening the ewes as well as the lambs for market, — I fed 
them over tAvo quarts })er day. 

Governor Hoard. What kind of grain? 

Mr. AvERY. It was linseed meal, cotton-seed meal and 
provender, — corn and oats ground together and mixed 
in equal parts. It Avas more grain, 1 suppose, than most 
people Av^ould feed to sheep ; but it should l)e l)()rne in mind 
that those Avere large ewes, and suckling tAA^o laml)s each. 

Question. Do you feed roots at all? 

Mr. Avery. No, sir ; I do not, although I think they 
are very excellent food for sheep. 

Governor Hoard. Do you feed any peas? 

Mr. Avery. No, sir ; I do not. I have had no ex})eri- 
ence in growing peas. 

Governor Hoard. Has any gentleman in the room had 
any experience in that direction? Several gentlemen in the 
West have been experimenting with peas for the past tAvo 
years, Avith very remarkable success, l)oth in dairy Avork and 
in sheep work, and Ave have learned some things that Ave did 
not knoAv tAvo, three or four years ago even. In ])lanting 
field peas plough the ground in the ftdl, selecting not too 
rich soil. In the spring, as early as possible, paying no 



40 

attention to early frost.s, drag- the around thoi-oughly, sow 
the pea,s, and })Jouoh them under al)()ut four inches deep. 
After the peas are ploughed under, sow on the top from 
three pecks to a bushel of oats to an acre, to assist in holding 
up the peas. Cut the crop when ready with an ordinary 
mower or reaper. We tind that we can get from an acre of 
peas the equivalent in value of 4,500 i)ounds of l)ran. 

]Mr. Gkixxell. 1 want to say that some two or three 
weeks ago I prei)ared some circulars containing about a 
dozen questions, and sent them around to various gentlemen 
rei)resented to me as being sheep raisers. I sent them out 
by the hundred. I have received over sixty replies to those 
circulars. They contain a great deal of very interesting- 
matter, which, if tabulated, would embrace all that has l)een 
said to you in regard to the kee})ing of shec}), — the cost, the 
profit, and so on. 

The CiiATRMAX. Well, gentlemen, we are gathering a 
good deal of information about the raising of sheep; ))ut 
there is one thing which we want to learn a little something 
about, and that is al)out our old Arab friend. We have an 
old friend of the Board here who knows more or less about 
the taritf. I should like to hear from the Hon. Joiix E. 
RrssELL. 

Hon. Joiix E. Kussell (of Leicester). Mr. Chairman, 
Members of the Board, and (xentlemen : It is eleven years 
last August since I was elected Secretary of the Board of 
Agriculture, and during that year I said several times in 
public, that if at the end of tive years I had not increased 
the sheep in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by my 
advocacy of sheej) husbandry to the number of half a million, 
I should feel that I liad been secretary in vain. After six 
or seven years I retired from the office, and there ^vere about 
half or two-thirds as many sheep in the Commonwealth as 
when I l)egan to advocate sheep husbandry. Otherwise })er- 
ha})s I was of service to the CVjunnonwealth in my position ; 
I flatter myself that I was, but I did not increase the interest 
of the farmers of the State of Massachusetts in sheep hus- 
bandry. We had very animated meetings and institutes all 
over the Commonwealth, l)ut I notice that there has been 
one very great step of })rogress taken. This is the first pub- 



41 

lie meeting that 1 have ever attended in which tliis (juestion 
was discussed, that the whole matter was not met at the outset 
by the cry, ' ' We cannot keep sheep on account of dogs," We 
have not heard that here to-day, and I lake it that the farmers 
of Massachusetts have got to the point where they consider that 
they can keep sheep if tliey choose to do so, dogs or no 
dogs. They have also made up their minds that they can- 
not prevail any further with the Legislature of Massachusetts 
than we went during my term as secretary, wdien w^e had the 
law very largely amended in our favor ; and we now have as 
favorable a law^ on our side in this Commonwealth as w'e can 
expect to have, or, I may say, as we are entitled to have. 

I am glad to talk upon the shee}) question ; ])ut 1 do 
not propose to discuss our old Aral) friend particularly, 
because I do not recognize that the tariff upon wool 
has much to do with the sheep husliandry of Massa- 
chusetts. \'\'e do not raise w^ool enough to make it at all 
important to us what the tariff is. I once ' said, amid the 
jeers of a good many men who ought to have known better, 
that the farmers in the States west of the Mississippi River, — 
I stated it on the floor of the House of Representatives, and 
it is in the congressional record, — that the farmers west of 
the Mississippi River could afford to keep sheep if wool 
was worth no more than hen feathers. Having said that 
there, I can sa}' here that it is immaterial what the tariff is. 
I might add to that, as a sort of snapper, that when wool 
was free in 1859 it was worth more money in all parts of 
the United States, considering the value of money at that 
time, than it had ever been l)efore, and worth more money 
than it has been since 1867 under a high tarifl'. The secre- 
tary says, "or ever will l)e in the future." That may 
be, too. I am glad to get a good price for my wool, 
of course ; but I do not reckon the wool as an absolute 
necessity of my sheep keeping. I should keep my sheep 
first for lambs, second for nmtton, next for the improvement 
of my pastures and the manure that I could get out of the 
sheds; then if T get $125 or $150 for my wool, that is so 
much addition to my })rofits. I agree with the gentlemen 
who have spoken here who have kept shee]), as I have, for 
some years, that there is a constant annual })roflt ; not a daily 



42 

profit, as one gentleman here wanted to get, altliongh I have 
known cases where sheep raisers got a daily prolit l)y market- 
ing the ewes' milk ; but I do not think we need to do that in 
^Massachusetts to make a protit. But the annual profit of the 
sheep is, we might almost say, an al)solute certainty. 1 told 
a poor farmer within two or three months, that, if he had 
my flock, which has never exceeded 75 or 80, he could 
support his family, pay his taxes and hold a respectable 
position as a farmer with nothing more than that flock, a 
garden, and what he could do on 25 acres of land. 

Mr. Shaw. I want to ask if your sheep in the winter 
have exercise, or are they kept in a })en all the time? 

The Chairmax. 1 have found from ex})erience that with 
sheds as close as I have, allowing about 10 square feet to a 
sheep, and dividing them up into flocks of 50 or (30, they 
need a 'small yard for exercise. The larger the yard we can 
have, and keep it dry, the l)etter. 

QuKSTiox. Has anybody ever tried soiling sheep as we 
soil cattle ? 

The Chairman. I do not know whether any other gen- 
tleman has done that or not. I have tried it in a very small 
flock myself. 

Governor Hoard. That is the English practice. All the 
flocks of England are soiled. That is, they have a small 
run of pasture, and generally a moval)le fence is used. They 
plant green crops and let the sheej) feed on them, moving 
their hurdles four feet in the morning and at noon, and eight 
feet at night, and thus make the sheej) eat everything per- 
fectly clean. In that way they feed on the green crop and 
manure the field as they go along, and then the land is 
ploughed over and sowed with another crop. 

The Chairman. I am not aware that that has lieen tried in 
this country, except in an experimental way. I think it has 
l)een tried at Amherst with English rape. 

Governor Hoard. There are some surprising results 
given l)y Professor Shaw at Ontario College. . We have 
commenced to try it in AVisconsin, so far with very flatter- 
ing results. Professor Shaw makes the bold statement that 
there will be within a comparatively few years ten million 
shee}) fattened in this country on rape, and he gives figures, 



43 

which unfortunately I have not with nie, which show very 
surprising results from the sheep fed on raj)e : and the 
growth tliat he made upon himl)S and sheep frcmiXew^ Bruns- 
wicli and the eastern l'r()\'inee of Ontario almost passes 
belief; but the tigures are given Avith the assurance that they 
are absolutely correct. 

The Chaiilaiax. Will Colonel Needham kindly give us 
some account of his dealings with sheep in former years? 
1 think he took a celel)rated flock across the water. 

Hon. Daxiel Needham (of Groton). I will occui)y a 
brief moment. This is a sul)ject which has always been of 
great interest to me. I had something of a flock of sheep 
in Vermont for quite a number of years. I had the old Con- 
sul Jarvis sheep, which he sent to this country as early as 
IS 10 or I'Sll. The bucks were sold in Xew York at tliat 
time for about $1,000 apiece; the ewes brought from $100 
to $150 and $200. The sheep which I took to Europe, 
to which Mr. Grinnell alluded in his address this morning, 
were the Spanish Merino ; that is, they were the descendants 
of the sheep which were imported l)y Consul fJarvis. ]Mr. 
George Cam})bell of Vermont had travelled with American 
breeders throughout Europe on two difl'erent occasions i)re- 
vious to 1<SG8, when those sheep were exhibited at the Ham- 
burg International Exhibition ; and he was satistied that it 
did not belong to Germany that she should have the exclusive 
right to claim the production of l>looded Merino sheep ; that 
as good sheep could be found in the United States as could 
be found there ; and he was confident that he had as good 
shee}) on his farm as he saM' in Spain, in Saxony or 
Germany. In 1868, as very likely many of you may 
remember, I Avas appointed a commissioner from Vermont 
to go to the International Exhibition at Hamburg, to Avhich 
the United States was invited to send sheep. The great 
interest of Vermont in that exhil)ition Avas in connection 
with the breeding of sheep, and George Campbell was the 
only man in Vermont or in the United States Avho dared 
to A'enture on the sending of Merino sheep to that exhi- 
bition. He sent tAvelve, and I Avent over in the same 
ship that carried the sheep and the shei)herd, and in Avhich 
Mr. Campl^ell Avas also a passenger. I remember that there 



44 

was a German l)aron on board the ship, Avho went to Mr. 
Campbell and said, "1 nnderstand yon have some Merino 
sheep that you are <ioing to take to Germany to compete 
with German Merinos?" Mr, Campbell said "Yes; "and 
he said, "Well, it is the old story of carrying coals to XeAV- 
castle," — and we almost felt that it was so. The sheep 
reached Hamburg all right, though they had l)een a little 
seasick on the passage, but they had eaten reasonably 
well. They had been well ted with oats and l)eans. We 
always fed our sheej) with l)eans in Vermont, as one of 
the best means of producing a good heavy ileece of wool. 
Those sheep were made the sul)ject of very general discus- 
sion in the newspapers. Mr. Charles L. Flint, who was 
the })redecessor of Mr. Russell, in the office of secretary 
of the Board of Agriculture, was also a commissioner to 
that exhibition for the State of Massachusetts. Governor 
Wright of Indiana was the commissioner from his State 
and from the United States, appointed by President Lin- 
coln : and Rhode Island and other States had commis- 
sioners there. When our sheep got there they innne- 
diately began to be the butt of ridicule of the German press, 
and they took up the story of the baron, that it was "carrying 
coals to Newcastle ; " that the United States — they did not 
know anything about Vermont — had sent sheej) over to 
Europe to compete with the Spanish Merinos of Germany. 
Germany had had almost full sway in the production of 
stock ]\Ierino sheep for more than thirty-tive years, — ever 
since Spain gave it up. We nevertheless went to work, put 
our sheep into pens, and entered them in the various classes. 
There were some three hundred Merinos at the exhibi- 
tion. The judges of the exhibition were men who 
knew nothing about tlie own(n's of the sheep, except 
so far as they were obliged to know. They were oldiged 
to know that there was only one lot of sheep sent 
over from the United States, and so far as they had to 
know they knew of the owner; but when those sheep 
passed under the inspection and study of the judges it seemed 
to me that they were un})rejudiced. They were called 
"Vermont Merinos," but I venture to say that there were 
not fifty men on those grounds, which sometimes contained 



45 

one hundred thousand people, who knew where Vermont 
was. They had an idea that it was somewhere over here in 
this western hemis])here, hut where they did not know. 
The judges went around and made their deeisions, and when 
they eame to compare notes they gave those Vermont 
Merinos two lirst premiums and one second ]:)remium. The 
excitement on the ground was intense. Xo hmguage that 
I can command could depict the excitement among the Ger- 
man and French breeders. Louis Napoleon himself, then 
the Emperor of France, had on exhibition right by the 
side of those Vermont pens, in a highly decorated })en 
built by himself, sheep competing with those Vermont 
sheep ; and there were distinguished lireeders from various 
countries of Europe, and some from South America. The 
decision was, of course, very acceptable to the American 
commissioners. Governor Wright came to me and said : 
"A great victory has been won for our country; it 
will result in a change of the current of trade in stock 
Merinos. Our people have heretofore sent to Germany 
for their stock sheep, but now they will send to Vermont, 
— the American people will tind their stock sheep at home." 
And they did. 

But I must tell you a little more about this excite- 
ment. The German and French breeders did not believe 
that the decision could be honest; and yet the men 
who constituted the judges were largely Europeans ; they 
were of all nationalities. The excitement, as I said, was 
very great, and (iovernor Wright said to me, "I don't 
know^ but they will mol> you and Mr. Camp1)ell," so wrought 
up were the breeders who were exhibiting on the grounds. 
They did not l)elieve that anything good could come out of 
America. I made up my mind that there was one test which 
could be applied. These sheep were not sheared. One 
of the first prizes which was awarded to us was u})on 
the weight of tieece in comparison with the weight of 
body. That could be tested, and I offered 100 thalers, 
wdiich is $70, for the sheep that would shear the heaviest 
tieece for the w^eight of liody in the class of Merinos, the 
sheep to be sheared and the Heece to be weighed in the 
presence of a new jury api)ointed by the German league 



46 

and in the presence of the Avhole })al)lie. I had that notice 
printed in French, in (xernian and in English, and })nt up 
on every pen on the great exhiliition grounds, and 
three days were given for the entries. AViien the third 
<lay had exjiired no entries had been made except by 
George Campljell of the United States of America. Then 
the (rerman press turned round and said, "The Ameri- 
can gentlemen have vindicated their integrity, and the ex- 
hi))it()rs and breeders of the European sheep on exhibition 
here have not dared to enter." After the exhil)ition Mr. 
Campbell came home, and Governor Smith of Vermont in his 
next message said that the result had been worth a hundred 
thousand dollars to the State of Vermont ; and he told me 
afterwards that he might just as well have put in his mes- 
sage that it was worth a million of dollars to the State of 
Vermont. Vermont sent sheep to Australia, to Texas 
and all over the United States, where the leading l)reeders 
had been in the habit of sending to Germany; and the 
whole trade in stock Mei-inos was changed from that great 
entrepot of Spanish Merinos, Germany, to the United States. 

Secretary Sessioxs. 1 do not believe that this discussion 
can be fitly closed without a leaf from your own experience, 
Mr. Ghairman. I believe you have the largest tiock of sheep 
of any man in Massachusetts, and I am sure the audience 
would all like to hear from you. 

The Chairman. AVell, gentlemen, I should l)e very glad 
to give you the result of my ex])erience, l)ut I think most of 
you have heard the oft-told tale. I should corroborate a 
o-ood deal that Mr. Aver^' has said. One (lucstion that was 
asked was about ventilation. The principal rules of success- 
ful sheei) husl)andrv are, that the sheep nmst be kept cool 
and dry, and have enough to eat. That is the whole secret 
of sheep husbandry. "And running water" is suggested 
by the essayist, which goes without saying. On that sub- 
ject of water, I think few people will l)elieve the amount of 
water that a hundred-i)()und ewe with a lamb by her side will 
drink. 1 unfortunately was dependent for water for a flock 
of some three or four hundred ewes on a windmill ; the wind 
didn't 1)1()W for live or six days, the thermometer went down 
below zero, and it was a very diflicult job to haul water for 



47 

those sheep. I had one or two ewes with hiinbs by their 
side in a small pen, and I found that, on the averaire, they 
would drink between live and six quarts of water a day. 

With regard to keeping mutton sheej), there has always 
been an idea, I think, in this part of the country, that it was 
only the Merino that would stand running in large flocks, 
and when I first l^egan I was told that 1 could not keep 
more than twenty or thirty together ; liut I gradually 
increased until I have kept a flock as large as four hundred 
together in a sunmier pasture, feeding them grain. To top- 
dress my pasture and kill the undergrowth, I kept the pas- 
ture overstocked. I have kept them from early in May until 
October on the same feeding ground, the same fiock together, 
and with no more disease than you would naturally expect 
from hurdling as I do at night. I have adopted that i)lau 
with ])astures which were becoming run out, grown u\) to 
l)ushes and covered with moss. I hurdle ui}" sheep at night 
for two reasons. One is to top-dress the part of the pasture 
Avhich needs it most, and, secondly, as furnishing protection 
against dogs. I never have had a dog jump over a hurdle. 

Qltestiox. What do you build your hurdle with? 

The C'liAiinrAX. Merely take an eight-foot section of an 
ordinary })icket fence, and two inches from the end of the 
two-l)y-three stick to which your pickets are nailed l)ore a 
hole, then put your sections together like an old Virginia 
rail fence, and Avhere the holes come above one another put 
in a piece of l)ent iron or a five-inch spike, and your fence is 
very strong and very easily moved. 

Mr. Avery also said that sheep needed constant care, and 
they do. The labor is very light. There is very little hard 
labor in looking after sheep ; but it is that very looking after, 
the master's eye, that covers what is called generally " good 
luck." There is no such thing as good luck. It is good care ; 
and in no branch of farming that I know of does good 
care go further than in looking after a flock of sheep. One 
troul^le that 1 have had in hurdling as closely as 1 do, three 
or four hundred in a small hurdle, is that they get very foul 
in the feet, and are ai)t to get foot-rot. The master's eye, 
if he exercises good care, sees when they are let out of the 
hurdles in the morning that there is a sheep or lamb afiected 



48 

in that way, and when they are hurdk'd aoain at nislit that 
.sheep or hmil) must he removed, and the disease not aHowed 
to get into the eontagious state. In that way it ean be 
eliecked very easily. 

QuESTiox. How? 

Tile Chairmax. Tliere are various prescriptions in tlic 
books. Our former secretary's sheep dip is tirst-rate for 
foot-rot. If too strong it will take the skin off of a man's 
arm, but if it is })ut on of the })ro})er strength it will cure 
the foot-rot. Then there is the })rescription of verdigris 
and carbolic soap in the old books. 

1 should disagree with Mr. Avery, if he will ])ardon me, 
with regard to the expense of keeping sheej). 1 think he 
has got it too high, particularly in the item of hay ; because 
I have found by actual ex})erience that the highest-priced 
hay, that is, the best quality of hay, is not so eagerly souirht 
after by sheej) as a ])0()r(M' (luality. I have tried that experi- 
ment by using a stack of very poor meadow hay, so })oor 
it was hardly worth putting in the l)arn. I found that when 
my sheep had Ijecome used to it, say after feeding it two or 
three days, they would leave early-cut rowen and hunt up 
those old brakes. (Jf course, to keep them in condition and 
to keep a flow of milk for the lambs, that feed must be sup- 
plemented with a grain ration. And another thing that 
reduces the expense of keei)ing a sheep for the whole season 
is, that, where ten years ago it used to take about three 
months, more or less, to get a lamb ready for market, now, 
by using a sire of one of tlic im])roved Down breeds, with a 
good grade cavc, well fed, you can as often market a lamb 
under tifty days as ^ve used to do it in a hundred days. 

Mr. GitixxELL. What age or size lamb do you And the 
most marketable ? 

The Chairmax. Our local market in Boston is not active 
for lambs until into Fel)ruarv'. There may be occasionally 
one asked for before that, but as an ordinary rule the market 
for lainl)s does not open until into February, and at that 
time lambs will be taken weighing from twenty-ti\'e to twenty- 
eight pounds, which, bred from inn)rov(»d sires on good 
grade ewes, ought to be put into the market at six weeks' 
old. 



49 

S. E, Stone. I would like to ask one question in reo-ard 
to pasturing sheep. Is it desiral)le or proper to keej) sheep 
continually on the same pasture ? 

The Chairman. They do l)etter to change, I merely 
stated that as an exaggerated system. I have tried that, 
and tested it very carefully. I propose to cut my pastures 
up into five or six, and let the sheep run ten days in one and 
ten days in another. 

Question. How many sheep can you feed on one acre, 
as compared with one cow? 

The Chairman. From eight to ten. 

Hon. J. E. Russell. You might have stated that the 
buyers in Boston want lighter lambs than they used to. 
They will buy lambs weighing from twenty-two to twenty- 
five pounds, when they used to insist upon having a lamb 
weigh thirty or thirty-five pounds. 

The Chairman. When I began it took me from seventy 
to eighty days to get lanil)s that would dress twenty-five 
pounds. I can now do it easily in forty days. 



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